Circular-knitting machine



I (NoModeL) 0. 1?. SWAIN; OIRGULAR KNITTING MACHINE.

No. 400,510. 0 Patented Apr. 2, 1889.

N4 PETERS. PhQ u-Lilhngmplwr- Washington, D. C.

UNITED STATES CHARLES F. SWAIN, OF METHUEN, MASSACHUSETTS.

PATENT OFFICE.

CIRCULAR-KNITTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent Ni). 400,510, dated April 2, 1889.

A Application filed July 19. 1888, Serial No. 280,410. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. SWAIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Methuen, in the county of Essex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Circular- Knitting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to knitting-machines, and has particular reference to spring-needle circular-knitting machines, such as are used in the manufacture of plush-backed fabrics, as jersey-cloth, so called, and is an improvement on the machine described in United States Patent to Kent and Leeson, No. 160,685, dated March 9, 1875, in which machine a blending-wheel is used to bring up the plush thread or backing and connect it with the binding-thread, passing said plushthread over the beards of the needles While the binding-thread is under said beards. In the patented machine referred to the blending-wheel frequently catches the lumps on the fabric and bends and breaks the needles. This evil I remedy by a push-back, 0f peculiar construct-ion, hereinafter described, which first pushes the fabric down before the plushthread or backing-thread is introduced in the usual way, and holds it down until after the binder-thread is introduced under the beards of the needles, then allows the making edge or lower edge of the fabric to rise, carrying with it the plush-thread nearly to, but a little below, the points of the spring-beards of the needles, at which height the plush-thread remains, while the fabric is again carried by said push-back down on the needles and'out .of the way of the blending-wheel until after the blending-wheel has performed its OfflCG. With this push-back are used, when the fabric is particularly heavy, a curved riser or pushup and fabric-strainer, the parts last named being intended to raise the lower edge of the fabric when the push-back allows it to rise between the ends of said push-back. With the push-backs are also usedthe plush-looper, binder-looper, knitting-thread or face-thread looper, presser, clearing-wheel, plush-blending wheel, and knocking-over or cast-off wheel, or equivalent devices, substantially as shown in said patent.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan of a portion of a circular-knitting machine for knitting plush-backed fabrics provided with my improvement; Fig. 2, an elevation of the inner side of the push-back and push-up or riser and fabric-strainer; Fig. 3,

a vertical section on the line mac in Fig. 1;- Fig. 4, an elevation of a part of the needlecylinder, some needles supported thereby, the push-back, the making edge of the fabric, and the yarns.

The bed A, the central holding-plate, A, the needle-cylinder B, needles b, needleclamps b, and clamp-screw b are of the usual construction and operation, the cylinder B revolving in the direction shown by the arrow marked thereon, and thewheels, hereinafter mentioned, being rotated by the needles with which the leaves of said wheels engage. I

Supposing the machine to be carrying a partly-knitted fabric, the fabric is firstpushed down by the end shown at the right in Fig. 1 of the push-back C, which is supported in the usual manner on the inside of the needles I) by arms 0 c, with which said push-back is provided and which reach outward over the tops of the needles and are secured to the bed A in any well-known manner. In the next place the plush thread oryarn d is introduced to the needles by a filling-wheel such as is shown in patent to Bradley, No. 131,595, dated September 24:, 1872, or by the plush-threadlooping wheel shown in said Kent and Leeson patent, either of which wheels may be designated by the letter of reference D, d representing the corresponding yarn-guide, the wheel D pressing inward needles at regular intervals, preferably every third needle, and placing the plnsh-threadon the outer side of the needles so pressed inward and on the inner side of'the other needles. The clearing-wheel E nextcarries the plush-thread down on the shanks of the needles to or nearly to the needle-clamps b, in order that said plush-thread 5 may not interfere with the introduction of the binder-thread f, by means of the binderlooper F and its yarnguide f, both of which operate in the manner described in said firstnamed patent. The push-back (J-j ust beyond the binder-looper Fthat is, to the left of said binder-looper in Fig. lis recessed in its lower edge at c for a considerable distance to allow the makingedge or lower edge of the fabric to rise, and thereby to raise the plush-thread d nearly but not quite to the beards b of the needles, leaving, preferably, a vertical distance between the plush-thread and the beards of the needles of about a sixteenth of an inch.

The ends of the recess 0 are inclined downward and outward from each other to allow the fabric to rise and to be pushed back again more gradually. As the fabric reaches the end of the recess 0 farthest from the plushlooper, it is again carried down by the end of said recess to the needle-clamps, leaving the plush-thread in its raised position. The plushthread is then raised over the beards of the needles by a blending-wheel, G, which may be like that shown in said Kent and Leeson patent, which Kent and Leeson blendingwheel has secured to it below its leaves a circular presser to close the beards of the needles; but I prefer to use a separate presser, g, in advance of said wheel G and to omit said circular presser from the blendingwheel G, the plush-thread being so near the beards of the needles when it approaches the blendingwheel that it is safer to close said beards before the strain put upon the plush-thread by the blendingwheel can possibly raise the plush-thread above the points of the beards.

The blending-wheel G shown is substantially like the landing-wheel I, except that it is placed outside of the needles, and that its leaves are therefore inclined in the opposite direction from the leaves of said blendingwheel. The face-thread h is next introduced through the yarn-guide h by the face-thread looper H under the beards of the needles, and the lower edge of the fabric is raised by the landing-wheel I, while the beards of the needles are closed by the stationary presser J, thus drawing the old loops of the fabric over said beards, which old loops are then lifted off from the tops of the needles by the knocking-over or cast-01f wheel K, which at the same time raises the plush-thread off from the needles, the new loops of the binder-thread and face-thread remaining on the needles and now forming the lower edge of the fabric, and the plush-thread extending in long loops on the back of the fabric and being held between the two knitted threads and not appearing on the face of the fabric, as fully described in said Kent and Leeson patent. The loops of the plush-thread are subsequently broken by submitting the back of the fabric to the action of a card, which forms the plush-thread into a nap.

When the fabric is very heavy, it is advisable to use a riser, L, which is similar to an inverted push-back, the same being an areshaped piece of metal concentric with the push-back and a little longer than the recess 0 and having an arm, l, by means of which, and by means of a screw, Z, it is secured to the central holding-plate, A, in such a manner that its upper edge is higher than the edge of the push-back within the recess 0 The fabric-strainer M is a strip of metal concentric with the push-back and riser and placed between the riser and the center of the machine, and provided with an arm, m, which extends outward over said riser and push-back and over the needles, and is secured in any convenient manner to the bed A. The object of the riser and fabric-strainer is to insure the raising of the lower edge of the fabric into the recess 0", which is accomplished by the fabric being tightly drawn over said riser and under said fabric-strainer, the lower edge of the fabric-strainer being below the top of the riser. The ends of the riser are inclined downward and outward from the up per edge of said iiser to facilitate the passage of the fabric over said riser, and for a similar reason the ends of the fabric-strainer are inclined upward and outward, as shown in Fig. 2.

It will be understood that the wheels, pressers, and push-back are supported in the usual manner, and are also adjustable in the usual manner, and that the fabric-strainer is also adj ustably supported by means similar to those which support the push-back.

The construction above described allows the blending-wheel to be set higher than heretofore by about a quarter of an inch, which allows the lower edge of the fabric to pass so far below the blending-wheel as to prevent any possibility of its being caught by said wheel.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of the stationary frame, the needle-cylinder and spring-bearded needles, the plushdooper, the binder-looper, the blending-Wheel, and the push-back provided in its lower edge with a recess having out wardly and downwardly inclined ends and arranged to operate after the binder-looper and before the blending-wheel to allow the fabric after passing the binder-looper to rise on the needles, carrying with it the plushthread to a position just below the beards of the needles and to push said fabric down before reaching the blending-wheel, whereby said blending-wheel may operate upon said plush-thread and said binder-thread without interfering with said fabric, as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of the stationary'frame, the needle-cylinder and spring-bearded needles, the plush-looper, the binder-looper, the blending-wheel, the push-back provided in its lower edge with a recess having outwardly and downwardly inclined ends, a riser arranged on the inner side of said push-back and having its upper edge above the lower edge of said push-back within said recess and having its ends inclined downwardly and outwardly, and a fabric-strainer arranged on the inner side of said riser and having its lower edge below the upper edge of said riser, and having its ends inclined upwardly and outwardly, said riser and said fabric-strainer being concentric with said push-back, and said push-back, riser, and fabric -strainer being -arranged to operate after the binder-looper and before the-blending-wheel to cause the,

fabric after passing the binder-looper to rise on the needles, carrying with it the plushthread to aposition just below the beards of the needles and to push said fabric down before reaching the blending-wheel, whereby said blending-wheel may operate upon said wheel and its presser, the knock-over wheel,

the push-back provided in its lower edge with a recess havingoutwardly and downwardly inclined ends and arranged to operate after the binder-looper and before the blending wheel to cause the fabric after passing the binder-looper to rise on the needles, carrying with it the plush-thread to a position just below the beards of the needles andto push said fabric down before reaching the blendingwheel, whereby said blending-wheel may operate upon said plush-thread and said binderthread without interfering with said fabric, as and for the purpose specified.

In witness, whereof I have signed this speci-v fication, in the presence of two attesting witnesses, this 17th day of July, A. D. 1888.

CHARLES F. SWAIN.

Witnesses:

ALBERT M. MOORE, MYRTIE C. BEALS. 

